After four years of crises, foreign and domestic, that threatened to plunge the U.S. economy back into recession, the road ahead at last looks comparatively free of roadblocks. But progress remains slow, and there is little reason to expect meaningful acceleration in coming months.

First, the good news: The housing market, whose crash sparked the financial crisis more than five years ago, is at last showing signs of a sustained rebound. Europe remains mired in a recession, but the threat of an out-and-out collapse appears...